Thanks to all Chinese community members

Dear all community members and friends,
First of all, I would like to thank all of you who participated in this election. I feel very honored to become the president-elect of DCSSA executive committee. I know that this position means responsibility and commitment. I will work harder to meet the community's expectation.
As you might know, I serve as the vice president of the current committee. The current committee is a very dynamic and active team under Jiayu's leadership. I have learned a lot from the team work and I would like to give my thanks to the current committee members.
I would also like to give my special thanks and comfort to Tong Ren and Jieru Zheng, especially Tong. She has contributed her wisdom, creativity, passion, enthusiasum and energy to DCSSA. She has done a great job in maintaining the website, making DV, organizing tax workshop and springternational. I sincerely hope she could stay in committee and continue her momentum.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Graduate school and International house for their continuous support of the Chinese community.
I will organize a new committee in the transition period. Please write to me if you would like to serve the Chinese community.
Thanks again and I am glad to serve the Chinese community for one more year, let's try our best to make Duke Chinese community a better place.
Xing Zong
President-elect of DCSSA executive committee

Congratulations to the new DCSSA president from the current committee

Dear all community members and friends,
In behalf of the current DCSSA executive committee, I would like to congratulate the elected new president, Mr. Xing Zong. Xing has served DCSSA executive committee as a vice president for one year and we sincerely hope he will lead DCSSA to a new stage during his presidency. We also cordially appreciate Tong Ren and Jieru Zheng’s interests and willingness to campaign for the president. Tong’s previous hard work as DCSSA technical chair and webmaster should also be well recognized and acknowledged.
The current committee would like to thank the whole community and all our friends for your supports and helps during the past year. We will try our best to make the transition as smooth as possible. As the president, I will submit my final report to the new committee and also public before the end of my presidency. The current committee also hopes all of you will consistently support the new committee Xing will organize.
I want to take this opportunity to warmly thank my colleagues in the current committee for all of your excellent jobs. Your voluntary works have certainly made the community more like a family. Thank you.
Once again, congratulations, Xing!

Jiayu Song
Current president of DCSSA executive committee

CHINA table won the *1st place* in Springternational country booth!!!

As China table volunteers from DCSSA, we are so proud of our country and we are very excited to win the 1st place. We would like to thank International Association and Duke Union for organizing this extraodinary event. Special thank goes to Lana from Graduate Student Affairs for her great and long-term support. Thanks to Ms. Harvard, Cloe, and Walter for dropping by our table today.

Last but not least, thanks to our volunteers, without whom we could not have made this happen -
Special thanks to Zheng Gao, Jingyuan Wu, Wenwen Mao, Cheng Chen, Zheng Zhang, Lin Cai, Chenghui Cai.
We thank Jie Hu, Xuyang Sun, Hang Qi, and Xin Huang for their generously support.
We would also like to thank Lixing Chen, Yun Zhao, Boxian Ye, Lingchu Yu, Xing Zong, Qiang Ye, Yi Li, Hanyuan Sun, Junhua Liu, Bin Liu, Jie Hu, Lixian Zhong, Wu Wei and many others for helping out.

we love China and we love Duke,
Tong

DCSSA Election 2005

Dear Community Members,

It's that time of year again! As one of the oversightcommittee members, I am responsible for organizing theelection of the next year's DCSSA members, includingone president and three oversight committee members.
Those of you who are interested in running for nextyear's president of DCSSA and oversight committeemember, please send your 1. personal profile (name,address, phone numbers, major, department, which year,etc) and 2. your written statements, to"qiang.ye@duke.edu".The deadling is 5:00pm March, 20, 2005.

Allcandidates' information will be listed on the DCSSAhomepage on March 21, 2005 and the voting will startat the beginning of April.
Thank you very much and have a nice spring break!
Qiang Ye
Na Li
Xuyang Sun
DCSSA Oversight Committee

Tax Workshops

Hi everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the semester so far. It is time to get ready for another tax season. You should have received W2 forms (3 copies) from the payroll office and 1042S forms(2 copies) will be on its way by Mar. 15. If you need help filing your individual tax return forms, here is some information.

There will be a Tax Workshop for international students sponsored by International House.
(Mar. 22, 7-9pm, @ Social Sciences RM 139) This is a general workshop for all international students, you can get some important information and useful handouts.

DCSSA will be sponsoring a Tax Workshop tailored for Chinese students and scholars.
(Mar. 31, 7-9pm @ Teer Building RM 203)
Presenter: Fang Liu, Law School, Duke University
On this session, find out: -- what kind of forms to file ( federal, state, and 8843)
-- where to get the forms (student center, I-house, web...)
-- how to fill out the forms (line by line instruction)
-- RA/TA stipend and tuition awards, and graduate fellowships
-- Resident Alien vs. Non-resident
-- F/J
-- single / married
-- where to send the forms (mailing address for each kind of form)
-- what to attach (1042S or W2 or both)
-- things to watch out for
-- get general / specific questions answered

Note for new students who have never filed tax return before: ALL STUDENTS AND THEIR DEPENDENTS MUST FILE TAX FORMS. Do not panic if you have no idea about what is going on, DCSSA is here to help you out. Also it is a good time to bother you mentor and other senior Chinese students. The tax return deadline is Apr. 15 every year. It is always better to get things done before that rather than rush on the very last day.
Useful links:
http://www.treasury.duke.edu/tax/student/foreign.html
http://www.irs.gov

Good luck with your study and have a great break,
Tong

China's Lantern's Festival Party

Let's celebrate China's Lantern's Festival tomorrow (Feb 23th ) !

Duke Chinese Students and Scholars Association (DCSSA) is going tohold a warm party in International House from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Come and enjoy TANG YUAN (Chinese traditional food)! Free beverages and cookies! Music and games!

Appreciate your coming!

Best wishes,

Bin

U.S. Eases Certain Visa Requirements on Students and Scientists

U.S. Eases Certain Visa Requirements on Students and Scientists

The Chronicle of Higher Education
By DAVID GLENNMonday, February 14, 2005
http://chronicle.com/free/2005/02/2005021401n.htm
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday relaxed certain visarequirements for foreign students and scientists working in sensitivetechnical fields. People who work or study in the United States under theso-called Visas Mantis program will now be able to maintain their securityclearances for up to four years, rather than needing to renew the clearancesannually.
The Visas Mantis program was established in 1998 by officials who wereconcerned about the international transfer of nuclear, biomedical, andcomputer technology. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,the U.S. State Department began to enforce the program much morestringently, and the number of applicants who underwent background checksincreased nearly twentyfold.
The delays associated with the Mantis program have frequently been cited asa cause of the recent decline in foreign students in the United States.Students have sometimes found themselves stuck in their home countries forweeks or months, awaiting the completion of new background checks identicalto the checks they had undergone the previous year.
In a statement on Friday, Nils Hasselmo, president of the Association ofAmerican Universities, praised the newly liberalized policy as "acommon-sense reform that removes an unnecessary burden that caused enormousinconvenience for thousands of international students and discouraged manymore from coming here to study."
The new policy, which had been rumored for several months, resulted from "arecognition that we needed to make the process as transparent and smooth aone as we could, while keeping in mind our security requirements," Angela P.Aggeler, a spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of ConsularAffairs, said in an interview on Friday. The bureau consulted closely withthe Homeland Security Department in crafting the new regulations.
Under the new policy, international students who hold F visas and who workin sensitive fields that are subject to the Mantis program will be permittedto maintain their security clearances for the full length of their academicprogram, up to a maximum of four years. Students who transfer betweeninstitutions or otherwise change academic programs, however, must undergo anew Mantis clearance when renewing their visas.

Chinese cultural exhibition this Friday(Feb 4th) @Bryan center

Dear DCSSA members and all friends:

DCSSA Cultural exhibition, the first event of our Chinese New Year celebration series, is coming this Friday (Feb 4th) from 10:00am-4:00pm @ Bryan Center lower level.

Reasons of dropping by our exhibition (what you can expect):
1. Get to know China. China is now the fastest growing country in the world with a 9.5% GDP increases last year. What is the driving force to make this old country turning a new look?
2. Want to visit Tibet? Join our photo tour!
3. Pick up your year in the zodiac circle! Have our calligraphy artist to write your zodiac for you to take away.
4. Lots of quizzes, see how much do you know about China. A lot of beautiful Chinese gifts available for winners!
5. Want to know the classical music that was described by Richard Nixon as "China's Romeo & Zulia"? Come and enjoy Chinese music.
6. You may know Yao Ming, but do you know other Chinese celebrities?
7. Do you like Chinese food? Want to improve your knowledge about the genuine Chinese food?
8. Chinese calligraphy demonstration!
8. Make friends on-site! Enjoy Chinese fortune cookies!

Services on-site along with the exhibition:
1. Ticket sale for 2005 Triangle area Chinese New Year performance (Sunday, Feb 13th, 3:00pm-5:00pm, @ Duke Page auditorium)
Beautiful fortune character sticks (Fu Zi) will go with every purchase! Besides, we have artist writing spring festival scrolls (Chun Lian) as you request if you and your family buy two tickets or more.
2. DCSSA Membership renewal: DCSSA membership is valid upon annual renewal. We have our new 2005 cards designed which will be valid through Feb 2005 to Feb 2006.

Please join us in the exhibition! Please contact Jiayu Song at Jiayu.song@duke.edu if you have any questions!

Jiayu Song
President of DCSSA